Masayoshi Son, founder of SoftBank Group Corp., again criticized the Japanese government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, saying it’s not doing enough to reach its goals for social distancing.
Son said on Twitter the situation will be prolonged because the government’s emergency declaration was incomplete, and testing and quarantine measures were being implemented too slowly. Those infected who have yet to show symptoms continue to commute on trains and buses, and the virus is spreading to families, he said.
Earlier this month, Son, one of the nation’s most prominent business leaders, criticized the government for not doing enough to reach its goals of curtailing social interactions by 70 percent to 80 percent.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe extended coverage for his state of emergency declaration to the entire nation this week as cases rose across the board. Despite the increase, Japan still has the fewest confirmed infections in the Group of Seven industrialized economies at almost 10,000 as of Saturday, compared with about 700,000 in the United States.
Japan has been conducting testing at a much slower pace than other countries, making the picture unclear on whether it’s headed for a slow containment or on the cusp of an explosive surge in infections.
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